9/11 Then and Now, Trumpapalooza, Sam Hodgson’s New Song and the Dangers of AI

On this episode of The Vocal Minority with Nick and Steve... The guys start with a look back at 9/11, comparing the way that tragic day was remembered then with the way it was commemorated 25 years later. They talk about the ceremonies at Ground Zero, Donald Trump’s appearance at the Pentagon and the reported moment when Trump appeared to fall asleep while the names of the 9/11 victims were being read. From there, the guys look at the legacy of the enormous national security and counterterrorism apparatus created after 9/11 and how pieces of that machinery have increasingly been turned toward what the government describes as domestic threats, including immigration enforcement, ICE and other political and law enforcement efforts that use the language of “terrorism” and national security. From there the guys jump into Trumpapalooza, the Republican convention taking place in Texas, including Trump’s promise to give every adult $5,000 if Republicans win the midterms, his comments about James Talarico and his bizarre discussion about Talarico’s love of meat. And the moment when Trump had the audience pledge that they would get out and vote, even if they were not registered. Next up, the guys play a brand new song from Sam Hodgson, the master of political folk music whose previous song The Coup took aim at the threat of a political takeover. His newest song looks at the similarities between North Korea and America and gives the guys plenty to talk about. Finally, the guys get into the latest concerns surrounding artificial intelligence and whether the technology is moving far faster than society can safely handle. They discuss 27 year old AI researcher Jacob Cocksin, who recently left Anthropic, and the warnings coming from people who have been on the inside of the AI industry. All of this and so much more on this episode of The Vocal Minority with Nick and Steve.